Welt shoe press



March 29, 1949. E. F. SMALL WELT SHOE PRESS 2 Smets-sneer 1 Filed March 20, 1946 EDWARD F SMALL l' N VEN TOR BY TTO/QNEY .March 29, 1949. E. F. SMALL. 2,465,612

WELT SHOE PRESS Filed Maron 2o, 1946 2 sheets-Sheen EDWARD F SMALL INVENTOLQ TOQNE Y Patented Mar. 29, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE WELT SHOE PRESS Edward F. Small, Newton, Mass., assignor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Application March 20, 1946, Serial No. 655,777

10 Claims. 1

This invention relates to apparatus for use in the manufacture of footwear and relates more particularly to apparatus for holding down the welt extension of a shoe While an outsole is being adhesively attached thereto.

A general object of the invention is to provide an improved form of welt hold-down which may be used in conjunction with the conventional type of shoe press to adhesively attach soles to welted shoes.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a welt hold-down which will conform readily to the contours of a shoe and which will accommodate a large range of shoe sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a conventional type of shoe press having an inflatable sole pressing pad, with a Welt hold-down that allows easy placement of a shoe in the press and which utilizes the inflatable sole pressing pad to cause it to apply pressure to the shoe Welt.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims appended hereto.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection With the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a shoe press embodying features of my invention, a portion of the pressure resisting beam being broken away to show other parts clearly;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the shoe press shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse Sectional view taken substantially along lines 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a plan View, partly in section and drawn to a larger scale, of the welt hold-down shown in the shoe press of Figs. l, 2 and 3; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the Welt holddown fingers.

The shoe press as illustrated by the drawings is for operating upon a right foot shoe and eX- cept for mere reversal of parts and/or shapes lll 2 thereof, the left foot press is of the same construction.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figs. l, 2 and 3, there is shown a suitable form of shoe press to which my novel Welt hold-down may be applied. Such a press may comprise of a base portion I0 upon which is seated an inflatable sole pressing pad II having an area considerably larger than the area of the largest shoe to be pressed thereby so as to leave a marginal portion of the pad surrounding a shoe positioned thereon.

Secured to the base portion Ii) by the upright members I2 is a pressure resisting beam I3 from which depends a toe post I4 and a heel post I5.

Extending from the base portion I0 are lugs I6 in order that the press may be attached to a carrier, e. g. a conveyor as disclosed in the United States Patent No. 1,945,762. The inflatable pad II is provided with a conduit I1 so that it may be inflated by the devices also shown in such patent.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, my improved welt hold-down comprises a series of thin exible fingers 20 of spring steel or the like. The ngers are arranged side by side in a continuous row and, preferably, the end fingers 2l of such row are longer than the rest of the fingers for the purpose of adapting the welt hold-down to the form of shoe press previously described. Each of the fingers has a welt engaging end 22 and secured to each finger at a point removed from the welt engaging end thereof is a tubular member 23 forming an eye through each of which is ,threaded a flexible strand in the form of a coil spring 24. The fingers are thus each pivotally mounted upon coil spring 24, and a headed screw 25 is threaded into the core of the coil spring at each end thereof to retain all of the lingers upon the spring.

The tubular members 23 are somewhat longer than the width of the lingers so that the fingers are maintained spaced from each other.

It can readily be seen that the Welt hold-down can be flexed in a horizontal plane to form a U- shape corresponding to the forepart of a shoe and that it can be exed in other planes to adapt it to the various contours of shoes as determined by the toe spring thereof and the last styling. As the fingers are spaced from each other their Welt 3 engaging ends do not overlap when the complete unit is flexed about the forepart of the shoe, and if extremely pointed toe shoes are encountered washers or the like may be inserted between the tubular members attached to the fingers to increase the spacing of the fingers.

Referring again to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the above described welt hold-down unit is held in position above the sole pressing pad of the press. To accomplish this, the hold-down is inserted between the sole pressing pad and a plate 3G which has an outer configuration coinciding with that of the base portion I!! and an inner configuration approximating that of the forepart of a shoe. The plate is provided with Vertical extending bosses 3| which surround the upright members I2 at the toe end of the press and are secured thereto by the set screws 32. The rearward end of the plate 30 is provided with depending ears 33 which are secured to the sides of the base portion IIJ by the screws 34. The underside of the plate 39 is provided with a rim which extends around its inner contour and serves as a fulcrum against which the welt hold-down fingers can bear.

At each side of the press at a point approximately corresponding with the ball line of a shoe positioned upon the pad I I, the underside of the plate 30 is provided with a slot 36 in which the pin 3l secured to the end finger `2l of the Welt hold-down unit engages. 2| remote from their welt engaging ends ride against the ears 33 formed on the plate 30. Thus, the end fingers 2| are prevented from moving longitudinally of the press.

The end fingers of the welt hold-downare urged towards each other by the springs 38 which are stretched between the pins 39 fixed to the upper side of the plate 30 and the pins 4I) riveted to the outer ends of the fingers 2 I.

In operation of the press, a shoe S with its located outsole, is inserted in the press so that the Welt engaging ends of the welt hold-down enter the welt crease of the shoe. As the shoe is moved forward into correct position upon the sole pressing pad I I it stretches the coil spring 2t to which the hold-down fingers are pivoted and the holddown is thus forced to partake of the shoe contour.

After the shoe is correctly positioned, the sole pressing pad II is inflated which causes it to clamp the sole against the shoe bottom and the shoe against the toe and heel post members I4 and I5. Simultaneously with the clamping of the sole and as best shown in Fig. 3, the marginal portion of the sole pressing pad balloons into contact With the welt hold-down fingers causing them to tilt about the fulcrum point provided by the rim 35 extending around the under side of the plate 30 and consequently causes the welt engaging ends of the welt hold-down fingers to bear upon the welt of the shoe with considerable pressure.

It will be seen that there has been provided an improved welt hold-down press which is well suited for the speedy and accurate attaching of soles to welted shoes of various sizes and shapes Without the necessity of making frequent attachments.V

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction and different embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above ,description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Itis lalso to be understood that the following The ends of the fingers claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A welt hold-down unit comprising a plurality of welt engaging lingers arranged side by side in a continuous row, a flexible strand, and means pivotally mounting said fingers for independent vertical swinging movement upon said flexible strand.

2. A welt hold-down unit comprising a plurality of welt engaging fingers arranged side by side in a continuous row, a coil spring extending lengthwise of said row of lingers, and means pivotally retaining said fingers upon said coil spring for independent vertical swinging movement thereabout.

3. A welt hold-down unit comprising a plurality of welt engaging iingers arranged side by side in a continuous row, a coil spring extending lengthwise of said row of fingers, and means pivotally securing said fingers to said coil spring for independent vertical swinging movement and for spacing said fingers fromeach other. Y

4. A welt hold-down unitY comprising a plurality of welt engaging fingers arranged side by vside'inA a continuous row, an eye secured to 'each of saidv fingers, and a coil spring passing through the eyes secured to said fingers. Y

5. A welt hold-down unitcomprising a plurality of welt engaging fingers arranged'side by side in a continuous row, an eye secured to each of said fingers, a coil spring extending the length of said row of fingers and passing through the eyes secured thereto, and means for'retaining said lingers upon said coil spring.

6. A welt hold-down unit comprising a plurality A,

of welt engaging fingersY arranged side' by side in a continuous row and spaced apart from each other, an eye secured to each of said iingersat a point located between the ends thereof, a coil spring extending the length of said row of ngers and passing through the eyes secured thereto, and a headed screw threaded into each end of said coil spring. p

7. A welt hold-down unit comprising a plurality of spring steel fingers each having one end thereof adapted for engagement with the welt of a shoe, said fingers being arranged side by side.

pad, during inflation thereof, 4to-contact .and

swing said welt hold-down about its vaxis to cause it to exert pressure upon the welt of a shoe Apositioned upon said pad. I Y l 9. In a shoe press the combination comprising an inflatable sole pressing pad,Y a series of Welt engaging fingers located arbove saidpad, meansk forming a fulcrum upon which said fingers can tilt, and means allowing said pad, during iniiation thereof, to contact one end of said fingers and to tilt them to bring their welt engaging ends to bear upon the welt of a shoe positioned.l upon sad pad.p 'y' s 10. In a shoe press the combination comprising REFERENCES CITED an inflatable sole pressing pad a Series of Welt The following references are of record in the engaging ngers located above said pad and lying substantially parallel thereto, means urgingr said me of this patent' series of fingers to form a contour approximating s UNTTED STATES PATENTS that of the forepart of a shoe, means forming a Nummer Name Date fulcrum for said ngers, and means allowing said 2 033 669 Anderson Mar 10 1936 pad, during inflation thereof, to contact one end 2130366 Pepin Sept' 20 1938 of said fingers and t-o move them about said 2375346 Card May 8 1945 fulcrum to cause their welt engaging ends to bear l0 upon the Welt of a shoe positioned upon said pad. FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date EDWARD F- SMALL 503,691 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1939 

